Fujioka Mikio
|death = January 5, 2018 (aged 36) |zodiac = |height = 158cm (5'2") |bwh = |genre = Jazz, Folk Music, Kawaii Metal |occupation = Guitarist, Songwriter |active = 2007-2018 ( years) |agency = Tricycle ENTERTAINMENT |acts = BABYMETAL |twitter = }} Fujioka Mikio was born on January 19 of 1981. He was better known on BABYMETAL as "Ko-Kami" (The Small God or The Little God), and also known as "158 Centimeters" because he was only 158 centimeters (5 ft, 2 in) tall. Information Early Life Mikio graduated from the Musician's Institute of Osaka in 2000. At 19 years old, he won the GIT Masters 2000. He started early to become a Sensei when he began recording monthly sessions for the Young Guitar Magazine CD. In 2007 he released the "Trick Box" CD for Young Guitar with songs recorded by him. The DVD was released in March of 2014, and can be found on Amazon.jp. 2013-2014 Mikio played for BABYMETAL as KamiBand member for the first time on September 22 of 2013 at Lawn Open Space of Shiga in Japan for the Inazuma Rock Festival 2013 in the last show of the BABYMETAL's "Summer Fes Tour 2013". The Kami Band formation for that date was: Leda Cygnus first guitar, Mikio second guitar, BOH on bass and Kadoshi Shuntaro on drums. Mikio played with BABYMETAL several times and in very important shows for the band. Mikio also played at Loud Park 2013 on October 20, one of the most memorable BABYMETAL shows to date, the day when BABYMETAL was recognized as metal band according to Heavy Metal Japan. He also performed at Makuhari Messe on December 21, 2013 for the second Sumetal Seitansai "Live Legend 1997". Legend 1997 was recorded to be released as Live DVD/Bluray later on 2014 as "Legen 1999/1997", but he is well known by fans because he was part of the first leg of the BABYMETAL World Tour 2014, playing in France, Germany and England (Sonisphere Festival and The Forum) during July of 2014. Also on 2014 Mikio Fujioka performed in the first Day of Makuhari Messe 2 Days on September 13 of 2014. One of the closing shows of the BABYMETAL World Tour 2014. 2015 In 2015, Mikio Fujioka during January, February and March performed several times doing live sessions as guest at "Grapefruit Moon" at "Showboat" with his groups "MMM" and "Trick Box". Along with him on "MMM" performed the Kami Band God Of Drums Yuya Maeta. Also Fujioka started in March his annual classes on Musicians Institute Of Tokyo as teacher. On April 26, Mikio took the stage to show his talent with ESP and Electro Harmonix at Blue Guitars Shop in Toyama. Mikio introduced with his performance the new ESP "E-II". Joined again to play as Kami Band member in April of 2015 for the BABYMETAL THE ONE shows "Apocrypha - The Red Mass" and "The Black Mass", both shows worked as warm up for the BABYMETAL World Tour 2015 which took Mikio and the rest of the band to play in Mexico, Canada, United States featuring "Rock On The Range Festival" in May, along with METROCK 2015 in Tokyo, Japan on May 24 and the next part of the BABYMETAL Wourld Tour 2015 in Europe playing in Germany featuring "Rockavaria FEstival" an "Rock Im Revier Festival", France, Switzerland, Italy where BABYMETAL was the opening act of NipPop Event and Austria for "Rock In Vienna Festival" in May and June of the same year. On June 21 he performed with BABYMETAL at Makuhari Messe in Tokyo the biggest BABYMETAL show at the moment. 2016 On February 21 took place the second performance of Kami Band project called "Kari Band" at JZ Brat in Tokyo, in this opportunity the show featured a special guest, the Pianist Ai Kuwahara. On March 20, God Of Guitar Mikio Fujioka to appeared at the ESP Museum "Vintage Salon Vol.2". On April 2 played with BABYMETAL the biggest headline show outside Japan at the Wembley Arena in London, England, just 2 days after on April 4 performed also with BABYMETAL at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, this show marked US TV Debut for BABYMETAL.. On April 18 as part of promotional listings, BABYMETAL Kami Band members received very important features on CD Japan. Before the next part of the World Tour 2016, BABYMETAL held 2 "Apocrypha" performances at Shinkiba Studio Coast for THE ONE members on April 20 and April 21. A day after BABYMETAL played for third consecutive year at Music Station Live. On May 3 NEO Oyaide introduced BABYMETAL Kami Band Gear for US Tour 2016 including details of Kami Band members gear featuring Takayoshi Ohmura, Mikio Fujioka and BOH. As Kami Band member Mikio played 8 dates with BABYMETAL during the first part of the US Tour staring on May 4 at the PlayStation Theater and finishing on May 14 at Northern Invasion Festival. Next month, in June Mikio played the BABYMETAL European Tour playing in Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Germany, and closing on June 10 at Downlaod Festival in United Kingdom and on June 11 at Download Festival France. On July 3 Mikio Fujioka was interviewed on Barks talk Kami Band abroad and Kari Band activities. Also in July Mikio with BABYMETAL played the second leg of the US Tour. BABYMETAL visited Seattle, San Francsisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. On July 18 BABYMETAL played at the Alternative Music Awards 2016 performing with Judas Priest's leader Rob Halford as special guest. After, on July 24 Mikio started the Japan Tour with BABYMETAL playing at Fuji Rock Festival followed by Rock In Japan Festival Rising Sun Rock Festival, Summer Sonic Festival and Apocrypha "The White Mass" in August. BABYMETAL Kami Band members Takayoshi Ohmura and Mikio Fujioka hosted a Special Guitar Seminar at the MI Japan Osaka institute on August 10. On August 15, Dorian Chiiwahwah Phallic and an incredible guitar cast including BABYMETAL Kami Band Gods Of Guitar Isao Fujita, Mikio Fujioka appeared on the first release for "The Epic Guitar Solo Challenge". Also in the same month, Mikio Fujioka hosted a Special Guitar Seminar at MI Japan Osaka on August 27. In September played with BABYMETAL their biggest shows to date on September 19 and September 20 at Tokyo Dome. Mikio played the first night "Red Night". On November 26, Mikio Fujioka held a talk and demostration at "Inter BEE 2016" at Makuhari Messe. In December played with BABYMETAL as support act in the Red Hot Chili Peppers UK Tour from December 5 to December 18. 2017-2018 On December 30, 2017, Mikio fell from a high observation deck while stargazing, and was severely injured. He passed away on January 5, 2018 as a result of these injuries. Babymetal Performances Participated in 2013 * 2013.09.22 Inazuma Rock Festival (Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan) His first performance with Babymetal * 2013.10.20 LOUD PARK 13 (Chiba, Japan) * 2013.12.21 LEGEND "1997" (at Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan) 2014 * 2014.07.05 BABYMETAL World Tour 2014 (Sonisphere Festival) * 2014.07.07 BABYMETAL World Tour 2014 (London, England) * 2014.09.13 Babymetal World Tour 2014 (Chiba, Japan) 2015 * 2015.05.09-2015.12.13 BABYMETAL World Tour 2015 * 2015.08.15 Summer Sonic Festival (Tokyo, Japan) * 2015.08.16 Summer Sonic Festival (Osaka, Japan) * 2015.12.25 Music Station SUPER LIVE 2015 * 2015.12.28 Countdown Japan 15/16 (at Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan) :(37 Shows of the 41) 2016 * 2016.04.02-2016.09.20 BABYMETAL World Tour 2016 (Did not perform on September 20, 2016) * 2016.04.05 The Late Show With Stephen Colbert * 2016.04.22 Music Station * 2016.12.05-2016.12.18 Red Hot Chili Peppers UK Tour 2017 * 2017.01.21-2017.01.29 Guns N' Roses Japan Tour * 2017.04.12-2017.04.29 Red Hot Chili Peppers US Tour * 2017.08.19 Summer Sonic Festival 2017 (Osaka,Japan) * 2017.08.20 Summer Sonic Festival 2017 (Chiba, Japan) * 2017.09.26-2017.09.27 BIG FOX FESTIVAL in JAPAN (Saitama, Japan) * 2017.10.14-2017.10.15 BIG FOX FESTIVAL in JAPAN (Osaka, Japan) * 2017.12.02-2017.12.03 LEGEND - S - BAPTISM XX - (Hiroshima, Japan) His last performance with Babymetal. External Links * Wikipedia (Japanese) * Report: Knowing the Kami Band, "Mikio Fujioka God of Guitar" Category:KamiBand Category:KamiBand Members Category:January Births Category:1981 Births Category:Capicorn Category:2018 Deaths